Nikhat Kazmi writing in The Times of India:

Forget the twitter about aggrieved national sentiment. For Slumdog Millionaire is neither poverty porn nor slum tourism… No Slumdog is just a piece of riveting cinema, meant to be savoured as a Cinderella-like fairy tale, with the edge of a thriller and the vision of an artist. It was never meant to be a documentary on the down and out… And it isn't.

Subhash K Jha writing for the Indo-Asian News Service:

This isn't the 'real' India. This is India as seen through the eyes of a Westerner who's selling desi [local] squalor packaged as savvy slick entertainment...

Yup, this is a film on a mission. It wants to exploit the Mumbai slums as a hotbed of tantalizing images conveying the splendour of squalidity… And to think every prominent of the cast and crew went around proclaiming Slumdog Millionaire would do wonders for Mumbai's tourism industry! Yeah, right...

Mike Myers does it far less self-consciously in The Love Guru.

Anonymous in the Economic Times:

Overall, Slumdog Millionaire is a brilliant and entertaining portrayal of a urban slum urchin, who is on the way to bag a jackpot in the TV show. Considering the fact that over 250 million in India still live below poverty line, the film also gives a shots of urban Indian slum life, which is especially appealing to western audiences. Made with a budget of just $15 million, not even half of Bollywood blockbusters, SlumD, succeeds in strongly conveying its message - no dream is too big. A must watch.

Shubhra Gupta in the Indian Express:

One look at 'Slumdog Millionaire' and you know that its spirit and soul is flagrantly, proudly India: the Empire has been finally, overwhelmingly trounced. It's not about poverty pornography. It's not about a White guy showing us touchy Brown-skins squatting by the rail-tracks. In the end, it's just about a film, which sweeps you up and takes you for an exhilarating ride on the wild side.

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